Chocolate Chip Brownies

Oh yes, yes, yes...deeply chocolatey, sensuously squidgy yet melt-in-the-mouth, these brownies will transport you to a beautiful place where the only thing you need to think about is your next bite.

There are four secrets to really good brownies...lots of good, very dark chocolate, lots of butter (we're not thinking about calories at this point), relatively little flour and (most importantly) they mustn't be over-baked.  They are ready when they have dried and slightly paled on the top and are still squidgy inside.  Between 18-20 minutes normally does it for me but I normally start to check it at 15 minutes.  Leave for longer if it's still moving like liquid but if you've just got a bit of wobble in the middle then it should be just right when cooled and cut.

Makes 18-24 Brownies

Ingredients

225g Salted Butter

300g Dark Chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

3 Large Eggs

1 tsp Good Instant Coffee Powder

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

100g Caster Sugar

100g Light Brown Sugar

125g Plain Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

100g Chocolate Chips (dark, milk or white)

• Preheat the oven to 160C fan and line a rectangular tin with baking paper, I use a roasting tin, 25x35cm.
• Melt the butter and chocolate together in a bowl resting over a pan of simmering water (make sure the bowl does not touch the water).  When smooth put it aside to cool slightly.
• Whisk the sugars, eggs, coffee and vanilla extract for 4-5 minutes until light, thick and foamy.
• Fold the melted chocolate and butter mixture into the whipped sugar and eggs then fold in the flour and baking powder.  Mix until smooth then pour half of it into the lined tin and spread it out evenly.
• Sprinkle half of the chocolate chips over the brownie mixture then pour the rest of the mixture over, spread this out evenly then sprinkle over the remaining chocolate chips.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes until dry on the top, firm but still squidgy in the middle.
• Leave to cool completely in the tin then turn it out and cut into 18 decent sized pieces or 24 smaller pieces.
• Note - you can use dried fruit (cranberries or cherries are gorgeous) or chopped nuts (pecans are particularly good) instead of the chocolate chips.  You can add them as well as the chocolate chips if you want to, just be aware that you will need to increase the cooking time by 5 mins or so.